A victory over Broncos would make Texans 3-0 for first time

Coach Gary Kubiak said Monday he believes the Texans are so balanced offensively that they can win by running or throwing.

They may have to do both to win at Denver on Sunday.

If the Texans beat the Broncos, they’ll be 3-0 for the first time.

Sunday’s 27-7 victory at Jacksonville — their second consecutive 20-point win — showed how effectively they can run when they emphasize it. The Texans ran 48 times for 216 yards and three touchdowns. They had 83 plays to the Jaguars’ 38. They controlled the ball for 43:17 to 16:43.

At a time when many coaches are looking for 5,000-yard passers, Kubiak is a throwback. He wants to run the ball and control the clock and keep the defense fresh.

“It depends on how your team’s built,” he said. “It’s what you believe in as a staff. We think we’re built to do both. We think we can throw it to win if we have to.”

Quarterback Matt Schaub completed 26 of 35 passes for only 195 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass or an interception, and he wasn’t sacked.

Kubiak’s game plan was to throw a lot of short passes against the Jaguars’ two-deep zone that was designed to extinguish plays down the field.

“Matt did a great job of getting rid of the ball,” Kubiak said. “He wasn’t sacked, but I thought he got hit too much.”

Kubiak used what he calls the “sugar huddle” in which the offense doesn’t huddle, but it also doesn’t play hurry-up football.

“We wanted to increase the tempo to get more snaps,” Kubiak said. “The defense wasn’t on the field much, and that’s a good thing.”

The Texans allowed 117 yards, the fewest in team history. That’s also the fewest the Jaguars have generated.

Kubiak said rookie Ben Jones would continue to rotate with veteran right guard Antoine Caldwell. Jones played every third series. Kubiak said Jones and Caldwell played well.

Kubiak wasn’t happy with penalties on special teams, especially the blocking-in-the-back calls on returns.

The Texans came out of the game with only one injury. Inside linebacker Tim Dobbins suffered a hamstring injury.